Where a central database is servicing multiple applications, either over a network or on a single computer system, and an application has the capacity to change the structure of the database, there is often a need for the other applications to monitor such changes to ensure that any changes made do not affect the operation of those applications.
Presently, applications do not check the structure of a database to assess whether it remains compatible with the application. An application is often only aware of critical changes to the structure of the database when a database query made by the application fails.
In order for the application to utilise a database effectively it is desired that the application is assured of the integrity of the structure of database before using it. Data which describes the structure of the database is called schema metadata. Schema metadata includes tables, columns in tables, datatypes of columns, lengths of columns, custom database data types, foreign keys, constraints, stored procedures, views, triggers, indices, and scheduled jobs.
To an application the variation of some elements of schema metadata may not be important. Therefore what is required is a method to verify the integrity of a database for use by a specific application. Integrity of the database concerns structural changes to the database which affect that particular application. Thus where structural changes do not affect an application the integrity of the database is maintained.
It is an object of the invention to provide a method and system to address the above problems or to at least provide the public with a useful choice.